The nature, sources, and consequences of firm differences in the early history of the semiconductor industry

Abstract

Four entrants into the early semiconductor industry - Sprague Electric, Motorola, Shockley Semiconductor Laboratories, and Fairchild Semiconductor - displayed remarkably different performance and behavior. Case studies of the firms demonstrate that the key differences stemmed from the firms' technological goals and activities and their abilities to integrate R&D and manufacturing. These differences can in turn be related to the firms' origins and their different conditions upon entry into the semiconductor industry, which had lasting effects due to constraints on change. While the cases offer limited prescriptions for management, they underscore the importance of technological diversity for an industry's rate of technical advance and, in turn, public policies that support such diversity. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.